Oct. 26, 2003

Senior Jennifer McGaffigan will be in a familiar situation Monday morning in Kalamazoo, Mich. She will be participating in the doubles championship match at the ITA Regional Tournament with junior Cynthya Goulet. Last year McGaffigan and then-senior Michelle Webb took home the doubles title for the Orange and Blue, beating Grier and former Wildcat Marine Piriou, 9-8 (4) in the championship match. The Illini duo bested Karie Schlukebir and Linda Tran from Indiana, 8-6, today to earn their berth in the final against top-seeded and sixth-ranked Cristelle Grier and Jessica Rush of Northwestern. Earlier in the day, Goulet and McGaffigan defeated Catrina and Christian Thompson of Notre Dame, 8-3, in impressive fashion in the quarterfinals.

"That match against the Thompson twins was one of the most impressive doubles matches I have seen since I have been at Illinois," said UI Head Coach Sujay Lama. "Jenny and Cynthya played extremely well."

"We just tried to be very aggressive and take the shots when they were available," said McGaffigan.

Lama said the UI pair didn't play their best in the second match, but they still found a way to win. "They weren't executing, but they kept competing, and it ended up paying off for them," he explained. "I'm so pleased with Cynthya and Jenny. We try different doubles combinations in practice, and it's great to see them gel like that."

McGaffigan also continued her impressive run in the singles main draw. The No. 3 seed won her singles match today over Victoria Domina from Eastern Michigan to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal contest against Tran. Goulet bowed out (6-3, 6-4) of the tournament in the Round of 16 against Christian Thompson.

Action will resume tomorrow with the conclusion of the doubles main draw and the quarter- and semi-final rounds of the singles main draw. The singles final will be contested and the tournament will be concluded Tuesday morning. Complete brackets can be seen at www.wmubroncos.com

SUNDAY'S ILLINOIS RESULTS:

Singles:
Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Victoria Domina (EMU)    6-3, 6-2
Christian Thompson (UND) def. Cynthya Goulet (ILL)      6-2, 6-3

Doubles: Cynthya Goulet/Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Catrina Thompson/Christian Thompson (UND) 8-3 Cynthya Goulet/ Jennifer McGaffigan (ILL) def. Karie Schlukebir/ Linda Tran (IU) 8-6